Eyes of the Enemy
by Rashal
Summary: See through their eyes...
1. Hunter

Eyes of the Enemy  
  
Disclaimer—Halo is property of Microsoft and Bungie studios.  
  
AN—Hey everyone. Eyes of the Enemy is simply a series of short stories from various Covenant perspectives. I hope to one day do a chapter for each of the Covenant species, and I'm sure I'll be revising the hell out of this thing when Halo 2 comes out. Until then, at least try to enjoy this (it's my first fanfic, god damn it). Happy reading!  
  
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His bond brother was dead.

Even as the mournful cry ripped from his throat, even as his wild fuel rod cannon shot turned three screaming humans into nothing but burning bone, Eyo Yana Gannu could not accept it.  
  
Dead! His beloved brother taken from him...taken away from him! No! He would not believe that quickly silenced howl of anguish had truly been his precious brother, nor would he believe he truly saw Inlo Yana Vaji fall under the hail of human projectiles—not until he saw the body with his own eyes.  
  
He threw himself forward, using his shield to toss aside all those in his way—Covenant, human; he no longer cared. Hearts aching, he approached the place where he had seen his brother fall, and with the sight of orange blood seeping into the dirt, knew the truth.  
  
The raging battle faded from his consciousness.  
  
Vaji's motionless body contained none of the humor and liveliness Gannu remembered his bond brother for. The orange and green fibrous muscles that lay painfully visible was riddled with holes from the primitive projectiles the humans used and slowly paling to a bleak, colorless white. His bond brother had died fighting. He had died honorably, and for this small blessing in his shattered and broken world, Gannu was thankful. Yet he nearly screamed in protest when he realized it had been a mere four Cycles. Four Cycles ago—Had it truly been that short of a time?—with the blessing of the Prophet, Eyo Gannu and Inlo Vaji had pledged themselves brothers of mind, spirit, and body until their lives ended, and the Prophet bound them forever with the name of Yana. They had destroyed, butchered, and killed for four long Cycles in a war that was supposed to have ended before they were born. They did as the Gods decreed. They listened to the Prophets and obeyed the Elites.Shouldn't that have been enough?Gannu had once promised his bond brother what seemed like an Age ago, that when the humans were dead and nothing but ashes remained of their worlds, the two of them would return to the blessed Homeworld together. Both of them would shed the heavy, unwieldy armor of war and truly live, just as the Ancestors did; slinking among the treetops, feasting on the green leaves of Warmtime, with nothing but the Gods, females and life itself in their minds. Vaji had agreed heartily and they had laughed. But now...now...  
  
He cried out again in pitiful sorrow, a tumult of emotions churning sickeningly inside of him. Why? Of all the trials the Gods could have made him endure, of all the torture and evils of life, why—Bullets pinged off of Gannu's shield.He spun, enraged, and raised his shield to shatter, pulverize the human that dared to intrude upon his misery, too livid, or perhaps too desperate, to wish death upon himself to realize that he was exposing the weak flesh of his stomach to a human behind him.  
  
She aimed her weapon perfectly. Gannu felt it shred his fragile stomach, felt himself spin and fire a plasma shot at the filthy primate and felt a harsh laugh escape his throat as she screamed when her legs vaporized.  
  
Now...he felt relief as his armor weighted body hit the mud and spattered it on the blue alloy, as blood pooled out of him, as the rain poured down upon his dying form. Gannu embraced the fact of his death, no matter how painful and long it was bound to be. He eagerly awaited it.Vaji wouldn't be waiting long, now... 


	2. Elite Female

_Eyes of the Enemy_

Chapter 2

Disclaimer--Halo is property of Microsoft and Bungie Studios.

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Kada'Yisemee, standing resolutely on a tall balcony overlooking the workers beneath her, was not dressed in the armor or energy shielding of her male counterparts, instead clothed in a rough garment that covered little of her blue scaled flesh.  
  
Let the males have their war.  
  
She had the daunting responsibility of a great multitude of tasks, all of them pertaining to the supplying of weaponry and provisions to the Covenant war machine. It was she and the other female Elites who led the construction on the thousands of mighty warships that burned the Infidels from the stars. It was she who oversaw the building of every plasma weapon, every grenade, every instrument of death. It was she—  
  
There was a flutter in her stomach, a disturbance that had become increasingly more commonplace. Her hand gently pressed against her abdomen, and she smiled almost tenderly, a gesture that looked terribly out of place on her hardened features.  
  
It was she who was to bear a child in a mere quarter-Cycle's time.  
  
Her mate this Cycle had been Prophet-blessed, particularly dark and ominous; in her own way, 'Yisemee had found him irresistible. She had hardly needed to be in heat to mate him, as the male had been wonderfully handsome...and surprisingly skillful. She was proud to bear the child of such an accomplished and dangerous warrior, and 'Yisemee had been looking forward to mating him again when the time came. Alas, the female Elite had found that her mysterious lover had been killed in combat. A pity for his loss, but he had died honorably. Still, 'Yisemee wished that he had not left for Paradise before this damnable war was over...he had been so magnificent...  
  
The ways of the Gods are unknown, she mentally chided herself with the Truth Saying. The Ancients will test those whom they find worthy. Do not disappoint them.  
  
Tests. Like all of her people, when she entered the transition from child to adult, she had been tested. The trials of the Prophets culled the weak from the Covenant, and allowed only the strong to survive. It purified them from evil within. Would the child she soon would bear pass such a test? For a moment 'Yisemee was overcome by an instinctual desire to protect her baby, yet she steeled herself against such barbaric impulses with another Truth Saying: Those weak enough to fail deserve their fate.  
  
No. Her child was from her own blood and blood of one Prophet-blessed.  
  
Such a child would not fail.  
  
Content in this knowledge, she barked down a sharp, curse laden rebuke at a loitering group of Grunts, watched them leap up and scamper. She stared after them, her gaze eventually leading to the awesome sight of thousands of Grunts, Jackals, and Engineers below her, working tirelessly on a gigantic ship. 'Yisemee watched as they all took a step back in unison at a loud tone and grinned as she watched its energy shields activate for the first time. There was an explosive burst of air that sounded like a thunderclap, a shimmering, almost beautiful scintillation that bathed the entirety of the chamber in white light, and the Elite was pleased. This enemy, these humans, would fall under the power of the Covenant.  
  
And she would make certain of it.


	3. Jackals

Eyes of the Enemy  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Disclaimer—Halo is property of Microsoft and Bungie studios.  
  
AN—Heyy...whaddya know? People like my brain shit. =) Thanks for reviewing, guys, and I'm really surprised anyone liked it. Since I only have a few reviews now, I'll address them individually.  
  
Galatic Conquest—I'll do my best to RR yours when I have the time, but at this moment, I've barely got time to go on my computer. Thank you for reviewing!  
  
Kulatu—I was going for interesting. =) And yes, I know they're short as hell, but I'm not a great writer in any way, shape, or form, so this is the most I can spit out of my head. It'll be a helluva lot better when the chapters are all down and you can read them all at once, I suppose. Maybe.  
  
Spacefan—Thanks for the kind words. Depicting aliens in a human way always bothered me. Like when people try to make H.R.Giger's Aliens sentient and remorseful. It's a nice concept, but I like my shadowy killing machines a lot better. And w00t for me for being unique! -  
  
B.R. Wells—I'm assuming you liked it. Kada'Yisemee and Teyo'Jerumee are ancient characters from approximately a thousand dead fanfics I wrote wayyy back when Halo first came out. I've always ended up slaughtering one of them in a horrible way to prevent them from getting together. I'm an evil person. -  
  
red blood white feathers—Thank you very much! Awesome name BTW.  
  
And, err, if you're a huge Grunt fan, I wouldn't read this...  
  
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Geg sniffed the air warily. He couldn't smell anything but the putrid stench of Grunts sweating in their armor and the familiar familial scent of his partner; no humans on his side. Kel squawked once, the all clear signal.  
  
Good. No humans.  
  
"All right, gassers," he barked to the small group of Grunts under his command. "There's no humans. You know what that means." He clicked his beak in amusement as the Grunts started to cower.  
  
"No Elites."  
  
Geg stood over the diminutive little idiots and grinned.  
  
"The Jackals are in charge today."  
  
He heard one of them whimper.  
  
"Kel!" he asked loudly, turning his head to his companion. "Which one do you like?"  
  
Kel made a show of raising his head crest, a sign of intense concentration. "Ooo, I'm not sure, Geg." He started circling the group of Grunts. "Hmm...I think this one is nice." He jabbed his beak in the group, sending them backing away. Geg laughed, swiping at them from behind with his pistol.  
  
"I like that one too, friend. Let's see, what could we—"  
  
"NOT ME!" shouted one of the orange clad gassers, stupidly running in front of Geg and bowing low in some pathetic attempt to gain his mercy. "Please, please don't—"  
  
Geg smacked the Grunt's head with his plasma pistol—hard. Kel laughed as the Grunt screamed, dizzily climbed to his feet and attempted to run back into the group, tripping and falling to the dirt. The Jackal stood over the fallen gasser, flipped him on his back roughly with a hoof, and spat on his face. The diminutive little alien squeaked in fear as Kel put his face very close to his, clicking his beak viciously.  
  
"No gasser speaks unless he's spoken to," he told the Grunt and removed the methane breather from his mouth.  
  
The little Grunt thrashed wildly for a minute, fumbling for his respirator and finding it crushed beneath Kel's hoof. The last thing the Grunt ever saw was a helmeted Jackal, snapping his beak and crowing in cruel laughter.  
  
Geg kicked the carcass into the surf, watching as the waves gently lapped around the small body. He sniffed in disgust, and then turned to watch Kel address the rest of the Grunts.  
  
"The rest of you stupid gassers are going to start digging, unless you want to end up like the idiot over there! I want the hole three units deep, or else I make you walk back to base without your breathers!"  
  
He glared at the cowering Grunts with merciless, bulbous orange eyes.  
  
"And if any of you stop before I order you to stop, Geg and I will make you suffer like the Gods damned you from Paradise."  
  
There was a flurry of panicked movement as the seven Grunts desperately began clawing the earth, sending a cloud of dirt into the air.  
  
Geg raised his head crest in confusion at his companion. "We had Artifact duty?"

"No," Kel replied, pausing to take a swig of water from his ration pack. "I just love to see the gassers suffer."  
  
Geg chuckled. "You amaze me, Kel."  
  
The Jackal clicked his beak in what passed as a grin among his specie.

Seven Grunts continued to dig their own graves. 


	4. Engineer

Eyes of the Enemy  
  
Chapter 4

AN--This is probably going to be the shortest chapter in the fic, probably because I know very little about the Engineers other than what I've seen from the books. They also look adorable! =)  
  
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Fix it!  
  
A slender, cilia filled tendril carefully explored the damaged Ghost engine. She chirped once in instinctual glee.  
  
Fix it! Fix it! Fix it!  
  
Another floated up behind her, blinking his six eyes in unison. She bleated angrily. This was her thing to fix! He could find another broken thing! He signed in defeat and hovered away. She resumed fixing. It would have taken a great number of highly skilled humans to fix a completely broken Ghost engine in two minutes.  
  
It took the Engineer thirty five seconds.  
  
Satisfied that the broken thing was working again, the bubbly, playful urge to fix it was gone. She turned and saw that the other was not floating. He was on the ground and not moving. Bright purple skin was now an ugly gray.  
  
She screamed.  
  
Hovering as fast as her body allowed, she floated away, screaming a warning. Tall ones dressed in gold led her away to a safer place. There were bodies on the ground; bodies of the little ones, the cruel ones, and the tall ones. Then she saw a body she could not recognize, one that was fairly tall, pink, and covered in red. She wondered if it was perhaps part of the ones that gave her things to fix. She had never seen one before and the way it lay still saddened her. She gently laid her third and fourth tentacles on the creature, sighing.  
  
Was this what she fixed for? So more things could die? She hadn't ever thought of that before. Fixing as a wrong thing? Impossible! She loved to fix.  
  
She turned her body around, softly chirping, and watched as tall ones and little ones and cruel ones fired guns she had fixed at creatures she did not know and did not hate. The Engineer felt a wave of sorrow. If she hadn't fixed those things...the creatures would not be screaming and crying over fallen comrades and their own wounds.  
  
She keened loudly in grief. This shouldn't be. Things should not die screaming and in fear.  
  
What were the ones who gave her things to fix called? She strained her memory. Covenant? Yes, yes, that was right! Well, as soon as they got out of here, she would go to whoever led this Covenant, and tell them that she was not going to watch things die. She would tell them to stop this war and—  
  
A Banshee was coming in for a landing a few units away from her and she could tell by the sound of the engine that it was not working properly. She squealed in delight, chirping and twittering as she floated over to the broken thing, forgetting whatever she had been thinking about.  
  
Fix it! Fix it! Fix it!


End file.
